Daniel Kearns to Launch Womenswear at Kent & Curwen
LONDON — Daniel Kearns is back at the creative helm of Kent & Curwen and preparing to launch the brand’s first womenswear collection at the Royal Academy during London Fashion Week.
He’s sentimental about the venue.
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“It’s iconic in so many ways. I went to see the exhibition ‘Sensation’ when I first moved to London [in 1997]. It was so monumental at the time,” Kearns said referring to the early show of work by artists including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Gary Hume, a group known as the YBAs, or Young British Artists.
The show will take place Saturday at the RA Schools space, which has never been used before for a fashion show.
Kearns has made a few changes to the brand since he worked there under previous owners Trinity Group and David Beckham from 2016 until 2021.
He has tweaked the Kent & Curwen British rose and lion logo by placing the brand’s name in caps under the three stacked lions. He put the founding year, 1926, between the lion and rose.
He’s also targeting a younger audience, although he’s preserved the brand’s collegiate feel.
Kent & Curwen served as a uniform supplier for decades, making ties and sports attire for Eton, Oxford and Cambridge. The brand has even dressed the Los Angeles-based Hollywood Cricket Club.
Kearns also found inspiration in the start of the new school year, so for spring 2025 he’s deconstructed and updated classic uniforms. There are pleated skirts; shirts with Sharpie-style scribbles and writing; jacquard knits, and eveningwear with school tie and scarf details.
“Uniform creates a base for you to then project your own identity because it gives you a ground zero that you can then become yourself with,” he said.
Womenswear also has a collegiate feel. During his first stint at Kent & Curwen, Kearns said he noticed a lot of girls wearing the brand’s rugby shirts, T-shirts, sweaters and hoodies. He used them as inspiration.
“There’s this playful and fun element of the men and women borrowing from each other — not knowing whether the girls are wearing the boys’ jackets, or if the boys are wearing the girls’ skirts,” Kearns said.
He studied London school uniforms and mixed them up, pairing shorts with blazers, and adding floppy hats.
“London has an eclectic young generation that’s so interested in culture and music. But it’s a pivotal time for many, like my son. They’re leaving school, the school uniform, and the conformity of [strict institutions] behind. They have this moment in life when they’re stepping into university or work life and are creating a wardrobe and identity for themselves,” Kearns said.
Kearns’ role has changed considerably under the new owners, the Guangzhou-based fashion company Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment Co.
The designer now serves as chief creative officer of Kent & Curwen and Cerruti 1881, which was purchased at the same time, and has been overseeing design, marketing, sourcing and production at both brands.
He’s also strategizing for the brands.
“We have a big focus on the China market, and how we tell the Kent & Curwen story internationally is very important. How we export British-ness is also very important. It has to make sense for the market” that we’re trying to reach, Kearns said.
He added: “A sense of heritage and the fascination with the British royal family is something that resonates a lot in China and in other markets.”
The next two to three years of Kent & Curwen is concentrated on expanding in the Chinese market, where the brand already has eight stores. It is opening an additional four stores this month.
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